Outspoken seem to be all over the place these days with their debut album Bitter Shovel. Their track "Farther" was recently featured in episodes of King of the Hill, Third Watch, and Without a Trace; "Way I Am" is going to be featured in an upcoming episode of Black Sash; and "Bitter Shovel" is to be synced with sports footage for Fox Sports Net program "Re:Evolution of Sports"· The band has made an E-Card available so you can check them out. See it here.

According to Pitchfork, indie label 4AD won back the rights to The Pixies catalog and plans on reissuing all of their studio efforts - Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa, Doolittle, Bossanova, and Trompe le Monde. 4AD will also reissue the more recent Live at the BBC, and Complete B-Sides. All are expected to drop on May 20th. Sadly, the discs will not feature anything new, artwork or track-wise. However, the label is currently planning two final Pixies releases for September. The current two-disc best-of/live release Death to the Pixies will be discontinued to make room for a brand new best-of compilation, and an as-yet-untitled DVD featuring multiple concerts in their entirety, along with all the band's videos, and exclusive interview footage. So long, Elektra!

We've got a new release date for Tricky's new album, Vulnerable. It'll be released on June 17th through Tricky's imprint Brown Punk Records (although it'll be distrubuted by Sanctuary). The CD will feature a bunch of multimedia content as well -- the video for the first single "Antimatter", an interview, and three "guerilla style films" co-directed by Tricky.

The title of the new Fantomas album is going to be Shaq Owns You. Seriously, if you don't believe me, go check out the Ipecac website. It's due out in September and is part of an impressive Ipecac release schedule: Pink Anvil Halloween Party this month, Tomahawk Mit Gas in May, Curse of the Golden Vampire Mass Destruction in June, Mondo Generator A Drug Problem That Never Existed and a vinyl version of Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf in July and Desert Sessions 9 & 10 in August. Phew.

The Kings Of Leon have announced some upcoming show dates in support of their recently released EP, Holy Roller Novocaine. Be sure to check these Tennessee boys out if they hit your town...

The debut album from Serart, the project featuring Serj Tankian of System Of A Down and avant-garde folk multi-instrumentalist Arto Tunçboyaciyan, has been pushed back two weeks to May 20th. For now, you can check out the EPK for the project in Windows Media or Real Media format. And, if you'd like even more information, be sure to check out our interview with the SOAD frontman himself.

Jazz legend Nina Simone died at the age of 70 at her home in France on Monday. She was powerful force in the civil rights movement, as well as the jazz world. Of course, her music will always live on.

First the Deftones send us the EPK, then they give us the track listing, and now they've tacked on the online player, where you can view both the EPK (if you're Real Player-less) and listen to "Minvera," the first single from their upcoming, self-titled album. Screw Real Media links, it's all there for you now!

It seems Xiu Xiu have scrounged together some new gear and are ready to head back out on the road, despite the scare they had a couple weeks back. They've put together a quick, West Coast jaunt for the end of the month...

Uh, free stuff time? Yes indeed. The 13th person to email me wins a copy of Taking Back Sunday's latest album Tell All Your Friends. Which is exactly what you need to do about Silent Uproar.

Explosions in the Sky, who've been hard at work on a new album, have announced a series of Summer tour dates out west. If you're on the left coast, check them out. I'm definitely jealous.

We've still yet to hear the real version of Radiohead's new album, but now you can at least see what the thing looks like. Click here for an image of the Hail to the Thief cover, courtesy of RH fansite At Ease.

Interpol had to cut short an April 16 gig at the Bologna Estragon in Italy after their drummer, Sam Fogarino became ill during the set. A spokesperson for the band said that Fogarino had been feeling under the weather for the past couple of days, but tried to tough it out and keep on rockin'. NME reports that the band laid low for a couple of days, but are going to give the show another go tonight at the same venue to make up the shortened gig on Wednesday.

Sonic Youth have announced a 14-date US tour for this summer, in which they will be joined by Wilco on six of the 14 dates, including shows in Boston, Philly, DC, and back-to-back nights in NYC's Central Park. Full dates in the more.

Brand New have released the track listing for their upcoming album, entitled Deja Entendu, which will be released this June. Here's the track listing...

Seems like Gameface have been hard at work gearing up for two new releases this summer. First, an EP entitled Natural Selection will be hitting stores on June 3rd, featuring five new versions of previously recorded songs and their video for "Laughable." The new LP will be released on July 29th and more details about that should be announced soon.

In case you missed it, Aaron Perrino of the band The Sheila Divine has started a solo project on the side named Dear Leader. Check the past news items for a link to some of his demos. Anyways, he has released a tentative schedule of release dates for his material, and for those in Boston he will be at TT The Bear's in Cambridge on 4/25. Click [more] for the schedule and tracklists.

Radiohead has just announced a clubdate in NYC to warm up for its headlining appearance at the Field Day Festival. On Friday, June 6, 2003, Radiohead will play an intimate gig at New York's Beacon Theatre. MTV will be taping it for broadcast "later". No solid info on when regular tickets will go on sale, but two tickets are available at this time. They're front and center and available on Ebay courtesy of the band with proceeds going to the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer, and AIDS research. Bidding is already up to $2,275.00. Shit, for that kind of cash, you could shake Vice President Dick Cheney's hand (autograph not included). Of course, this goes to a good cause (saving as opposed to taking lives).

New Beck video for "Lost Cause" is viewable right here. Requires Real Player and a nod of thanks to slatch.

Remember that techno remix of Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation" that was big last summer? Junkie XL, who was responsible for the thing, has announced he's releasing an album of his own with a bunch of guest singers. No more collabs with The King (he is dead and all), but the lineup is nonetheless impressive: Depeche Mode's David Gahan, The Cure's Robert Smith, Gary Numan, Republica's Saffron and Chuck D, amongst others. The album's called Radio JXL, A Broadcast From The Computer Hell Cabin -- no word yet on a release date.